Thousands of Marylanders who had trouble signing up for health coverage on the state's glitch-riddled exchange last year have vented their frustrations in the site's online feedback forms. Of more than 4,000 comments that accrued from the site's launch on Oct. 1 through Dec. 12, only 15 were positive, according to an analysis by the Capital News Service at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Philip Merrill College of Journalism's newswire obtained the feedback forms through a Public Information Act request.

The National Aquarium in Baltimore is asking for feedback as it considers whether to keep the eight Atlantic bottlenose dolphins in its care or move them to an ocean-side sanctuary. The Inner Harbor anchor institution revealed plans this week to evaluate its future role as a conservation organization - including whether to keep the marine mammals - through a process it's calling BLUEprint. The aquarium launched the website aqua.org/future for the public to submit opinions.

People who apply for help at the Carroll County Department of SocialServices may have a chance before the end of this year to fill out surveys evaluating the way they were treated.The agency's board ofdirectors, chaired by Richard H. Wilson of Westminster, hopes to start a feedback system sometime after July.DSS Director M. Alexander Jones told the board yesterday that he and a committee from the board will be working out more details on the system and will present them to the rest of the board at a July 2 meeting.

Howard County's Department of Planning and Zoning and the Columbia Association have launched a study to determine the feasibility of a bike share system in the county. A bike share allows people to use bicycles on a short-term basis. The program would involve establishing stations around the county, with six to 20 bicycles at each station available for public use. People could use a bike to get to their destination, then drop it off at another station or return it to the original spot.

By Stephen Manes and Stephen Manes,New York Times News Service | March 3, 1997

A YELLOW disk on the screen is the virtual ball. A green line serves as a virtual slingshot. But when you wrap your fingers around a new kind of joystick and pick up the "ball" with the "slingshot," this simple descendant of the game of Pong literally comes alive in your hand.As the ball drops back into the slingshot, your hand feels the ball's "mass" stretching the "rubber." Hold down a button on the joystick, and the ball sticks to the slingshot, lurching to and fro in a genuinely palpable way. Let go, and as the ball takes off, you feel the reaction.

Here's a sticky workplace situation that many of us will face at some point in our careers: getting passed over for a promotion. You may feel resentful or even angry. You wonder if you should approach your manager for feedback or start looking for another job. How do you deal with the rejection in a constructive way? For one thing, think before taking any action. You don't want to make an impulsive decision that could harm your career. "Being passed over for a promotion is a common experience," says Kathy Bovard, coordinator of the human resources development graduate program at McDaniel College in Westminster.

The Maryland Transit Administration plans five public meetings this week to gather feedback for a proposed study of a 10.5-mile Red Line rail corridor connecting Woodlawn through downtown Baltimore to Fells Point, Canton and Patterson Park. The meeting schedule is: Tomorrow from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the St. James Episcopal Church Parish Center, 1020 W. Lafayette Ave. Tuesday from 11 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. at the MTA Charles Center Metro Station Mezzanine. Entrances at 1 W. Baltimore St. and 110 E. Baltimore St. Tuesday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at the Woodlawn Community Center, 2120 Gwynn Oak Ave. Wednesday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Edmondson High School, 501 N. Athol St. Thursday from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. at Holy Rosary Church Hall, 408 S. Chester St.

At the Howard County school board's Listening Posts - held twice a month before the regular board meeting - parents and residents stand stiffly behind a podium and often read carefully prepared speeches outlining problems or concerns. Sitting on raised seats, board members nod knowingly and quickly assure speakers that their concerns will be addressed. But provide coffee, lemonade and assorted pastries, sit the parents in a circle, facing the board members, and real dialogue occurs. That's what happened last night at a Coffee and Conversation sponsored by the board at Oakland Mills Middle School.

Carroll County's new $8.2 million emergency radio system got its first real test Monday during a violent dinner-time thunderstorm that knocked out electrical service for about 18,000 Baltimore Gas and Electric Co. customers in Carroll County, authorities said yesterday.Lightning struck one tower supporting an antenna for the 800-megahertz radio system in the Sykesville area and struck a power line near another tower, said Howard S. "Buddy" Redman, director of the county Emergency Operations Center.

A congressman came to class at Carroll Community College yesterday, sampling opinion on the president's proposal to send U.S. troops to Bosnia.The idea is "to get feedback from people most directly affected," said Rep. Roscoe G. Bartlett, a 6th District Republican. "Ultimately, the mission to Bosnia cannot be a success without public support."In his audience were about 30 students, several local residents, veterans and relatives of members of the military.One student said he wondered why the United States seemed to be constantly trying to save the world.

Thousands of Marylanders who had trouble signing up for health coverage on the state's glitch-riddled exchange last year have vented their frustrations in the site's online feedback forms. Of more than 4,000 comments that accrued from the site's launch on Oct. 1 through Dec. 12, only 15 were positive, according to an analysis by the Capital News Service at the University of Maryland, College Park. The Philip Merrill College of Journalism's newswire obtained the feedback forms through a Public Information Act request.

A traditional circus act may shed new light on human movement, with implications for the treatment of neurological disorders or other scientific breakthroughs. Researchers at the Johns Hopkins University are using juggling to study how touch, or haptic, feedback influences movement, and they've found that such feedback can help humans make fewer movement errors. The research could be beneficial to those studying how to create better prosthetic limbs or more nimble robots, they said.

The new express toll lanes set to open next year along Interstate 95 north of Baltimore are not popular among the residents who have shared their opinion with the Maryland Transportation Authority. Of the 73 public responses submitted, mostly online, to the authority since it released its proposed toll rates in September and asked for feedback, 80 percent were in opposition, according to a final summary of the public's responses released last week. Another 19 percent were considered "neutral" comments, and just 1 percent supported the project.

State regulators are holding a series of meetings next week to get public feedback about Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s pending requests for a rate increase and monthly surcharges on gas and electric customers. The meetings, which all begin at 7 p.m., are scheduled as follows: •Monday in the Joint Hearing Room of the Legislative Services Building, 90 State Circle in Annapolis. Tuesday in the meeting room of the Baltimore County Public Library's Towson Branch, 320 York Road in Towson.

There was a sharp contrast between the two headlining performances at this year's Preakness InfieldFest. Frugal rapper Macklemore, an independent artist with two No. 1 hit singles to his name, won the crowd over Saturday with messages that were positive, compassionate and sometimes just silly. Pitbull, the stoic purveyor of Eurodance-inspired rap-meets-pop, bludgeoned the crowd with rib-cage-shaking bass. And though Macklemore performed to a dry crowd while Pitbull fought through the rain, the results were largely the same, with an approving crowd fist-pumping and dancing.

Do you know the difference between a tornado watch and a tornado warning? The National Weather Service isn't sure many people do, and considering changes to simplify their severe weather communications. The agency is testing a proposal that communicates forecasts with the public in a more literal way. Instead of alerting the public that it has issued a "watch" for a given type of severe weather, it would say that it "forecasts the potential for" severe weather. Instead of an "advisory", such as last night's dense fog advisory, weather service communications would say that forecasters "advise caution for" dense fog or other hazards.

Every night when she goes to bed, Laura Amy Schlitz prepares to take flight. She lies on her back, left leg doubled beneath her, and her arms thrust outward in the shape of a V. Her position is testament to the power of an intense desire to trump physical comfort. "I was fascinated by fairies when I was growing up, and I wanted to see one dreadfully," says Schlitz, the longtime Park School librarian, children's author and winner of the 2008 Newbery Award. "So I waited and waited for Peter's shadow to appear on my bedroom curtains.

Q. I work for a small company, and my boss keeps a file on each employee. He puts things into the files and uses the information when doing reviews. Should the employees be notified when something derogatory goes into their file? Do we have the right to see what it contains? The boss says the information is confidential and for his use only. But at review time we are sometimes asked to discuss the stuff, which may have happened the year before. A. The most flagrant drawback of his impersonal system is that he notes your mistakes but waits up to a year before giving you a chance to respond.

Kathy Flaherty of Severna Park, who has a special-needs child in third grade, wanted to know more about assistance for "twice-exceptional" students, who have disabilities but are intellectually gifted. Mark Turner of Odenton, who has a special-needs eighth-grader, suggested simplifying the language in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) process. Sylvia Barrett of Severna Park, mother of a middle-school student, simply sought to learn more about resources available for special-needs students because, she said, often "nobody tells you about it; you have to go by word of mouth.

For her debut at the Baltimore Farmers' Market, vendor Eula McDowell brought what she figured was more than enough black-eyed pea, lentil and navy bean soup to last through the day — and sold out in two hours. "I was really proud of myself," McDowell said about her early market success with Savory Bean Soups. "At first I was satisfied with just being at the farmers' market, but customers told me they wanted to see me throughout the week. " McDowell listened. Her market fare has now grown into The Big Bean Theory, a full-time operation she opened last November at Owings Mills Mall.